You are here

LED Complete: A New Standard for Lighted Aids

As Coast Guard Aids to Navigation units work toward completing the transition from incandescent lanterns to the newer LED lights, USCGC FIR offers some observations from the past years of its own transition. FIR recently completed the transition to LED lanterns on all of its lighted aids in the Pacific Northwest. FIR's lighted aids now bear either Carmanah, Sealite, or Tideland lanterns, each used to meet the different requirements of its location.

The Carmanah lantern is the most commonly found lantern in FIR's area of responsibility. Because many of FIR's aids are found within rivers and restricted waterways where a nominal range of three nautical miles is more than adequate, Carmanah 702-5's are the ideal solution.

As self-contained units, Carmanahs are easy to install and service, and offer fewer points of failure than other options which require external batteries, solar panels, and electrical connections. The Carmanahs are also incredibly durable and offer a great solution to water intrusion; a definite requirement in the Pacific Northwest...